


Hearth and Home

by cielsdemon



Series: where we love is home [3]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hot Chocolate, Snow Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23388370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cielsdemon/pseuds/cielsdemon
Summary: When she enters the living room, she finds William on the settee with a book in hand. Two cups of steaming cocoa sit on the side table nearby.
Relationships: William T. Spears/Grell Sutcliff
Series: where we love is home [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718233
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Hearth and Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hello! It's been a hot second since you've seen us, huh? I have this for you now and in a couple days I'm gonna post another ficlet from the Assassins AU 'verse. We've been working on that a bit recently and I'm excited about it!
> 
> This work is _technically_ a sequel to [There's Snow Place Like Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14050014) but can be read on its own without you missing much. Basically it's just fluff. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The door opens while Grell is up to her nose in milky bathwater. She glances up to squint at William’s blurry form in front of the sink. He hasn’t dressed yet, and his broad back shifts deliciously as he hangs his water-logged clothing alongside hers to drip dry.

“My socks are drenched, thank you very much,” he comments as Grell closes her eyes on a quiet sigh.

“There’s room in the bath if you want to warm up, dear.” Silence. She peeks open one eye. “Have you put on another cocoa?”

“Yes.” William wraps a towel around himself and tips his head toward her. “Don’t be long,” he warns. “I will drink yours.”

“William!”

* * *

Grell is not one to rush her beauty routine, but with a hot cocoa on the line she does pick up the pace. Newly warm and dry, she has dressed in a pair of William’s pajamas and stolen a pair of his hideous wool socks. Though ugly, she’s never found a faster route to toasty feet.

When she enters the living room, she finds William on the settee with a book in hand. Two cups of steaming cocoa sit on the side table nearby. She lifts one to her lips and blows on it as she nudges William with her knee. “Shove over.” He does, making room for her feet in his lap as she slips onto his settee.

“You could say please,” William comments mildly. His thumb digs into the arch of her foot and she hisses with sweet pleasure-pain. “I’m letting you stay, but only if you’re well-behaved.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” she promises as she sinks into the cushions with a sigh. “What are you reading?”

He shows her the cover of a book on poetry. A gift, she recalls. One she gave him on their fiftieth anniversary. There’s a lipstick kiss pressed into the page he’s reading, faded, but there all the same.

Grell smiles into her cocoa. “Read to me,” she requests after a slow, warm sip of her drink. “Please.”

He does. He thumbs a steady circle against the bottom of her foot as his quiet words fill the room.

Warmed by the cocoa, as well as her borrowed pajama set and thick socks, Grell finds her eyelids growing heavy. She manages to finish her drink before succumbing to the insistent pull of sleep.

* * *

Over an hour later, she wakes up on Will’s settee. There’s a blanket over her and her glasses are safe on the arm. Will is nowhere to be seen as she sits upright, yawning. “Will?”

No answer.

She rises, stretching, and makes her way into the kitchen. Still no William. Frowning now, she walks toward the only other room he could be in.

When she pushes open the door to his study and meets his eye from the doorway, he at least has the decency to look sheepish.

“You’re awake.”

Grell crosses her arms. “I woke up _alone_ , I’ll have you know.”

Will’s lips quirk. “You are the one who fell asleep. Did you expect me to sit there and gaze at you?” Grell’s lower lip juts out in a pout. “You did.”

“Well, it would have been romantic if you had!”

Will’s shoulders shake faintly. He moves a few files from one side of his desk to the other, straightening them, then stands and crosses the room to her.

“I forget you aren’t a romantic,” Grell huffs, lifting her hand. She brushes her knuckles down Will’s cheek and feels him smile against her fingers. Her hand drops to rest loosely against his shoulder. “Make me dinner, Will.”

He looks to the heavens as if searching for strength. When his eyes meet hers again, she can just barely see the warmth in them. “Alright. You can help me drink that bottle of red I’ve been saving.”

Grell lights up. “Oh, William! You were saving it for me?”

“No–”

She goes on as if she hasn’t heard him. “Maybe you are a romantic after all! Oh, my darling Will.” Her arm loops around his and she tows him into the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kind comment or kudos on your way out :)
> 
> [Blog!](http://cielsdemon.tumblr.com)


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